Methods and apparatus to determine audience engagement indices associated with media presentations

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to determine audience engagement indices associated with media presentations are disclosed. An example method involves determining a first engagement index associated with media based on a quantity of users of an Internet service that have posted messages containing a keyword associated with the media between a first time and a second time. The example method also involves weighting the first engagement index with a first weight. The example method also involves determining a second engagement index based on a survey of panel members exposed to the media at the first time. The example method also involves weighting the second engagement index with a second weight, and determining a composite engagement index based on the weighted first engagement index and the weighted second engagement index.

RELATED APPLICATION

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/965,505, filed on Dec. 10, 2010, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to monitoring media and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to determine audience engagementindices associated with media presentations.

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, audience measurement entities determine audience size anddemographic composition for media based on registered panel members.That is, an audience measurement entity enrolls people that consent tobeing monitored into a panel. The audience measurement entity thenmonitors the media habits of those panel members to identify mediapresentations (e.g., television programs, radio programs, Internetbrowsing, video on demand access, etc.) exposed to those panel members.The audience measurement entity can then determine the size anddemographic composition of audience(s) for those media presentationsbased on the collected media measurement data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example system that may be used to determine audienceengagement indices for media presentations based on exposure datameasured from media panels and on Internet message postings.

FIG. 2 depicts an example media programming database storing metadataabout scheduled media presentations.

FIG. 3 depicts an example Internet message database storing messagesfrom users of an Internet service provider.

FIG. 4 depicts an example apparatus that may be used to determineaudience engagement indices for media presentations.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the apparatus of FIG. 4to determine audience engagement indices of media presentations based onengagement levels measured from media panels and Internet messagepostings.

FIG. 6 is an example processor system that can be used to executeexample instructions of FIG. 5 to implement the example apparatus ofFIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacturedisclosed herein may be used to determine audience engagement indicesassociated with media presentations based on measured media panelexposure data and on audience engagement levels determined from Internetmessage postings. As used herein, an engagement index (or indice) is avalue selected to quantify the amount of interest in a mediapresentation. Some traditional techniques for determining engagementindices involve surveying audience members with questions to elicitresponses indicative of an amount of interest by those audience membersin select media presentations. Other traditional techniques fordetermining engagement indices involve registering audience members whoconsent to having their media habits monitored. A media audiencemeasurement entity can then track the media habits of the audience panel(i.e., the registered audience members) and determine engagement indicesbased on the collected media exposure data. In some examples, the mediaaudience measurement entity may also conduct surveys of some or all ofthe panelists to correlate audience member responses with the collectedmedia exposure data to determine one or more engagement indices fordifferent target media presentations.

Example methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture determine oneor more engagement indices for any type of media presentation (e.g.,television programs, radio programs, Internet-based media,advertisements, video on demand, media content, etc.). Thus, examplesdisclosed herein may be adapted to determine engagement indices for anytype of media presentation including programming content and/oradvertisements. As used herein, media presentation is generic to anyform of media (e.g., content, advertisements, etc.). Also, “mediacontent” refers to programming (e.g., news, sit-coms, television series,feature films, etc.) as opposed to advertisements.

Unlike traditional techniques that rely on collected media exposure dataand/or audience survey responses collected from panelists, examplemethods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture disclosedherein advantageously leverage characteristics of Internet-based messagepostings evidencing users' consumption, involvement and/or engagementwith those media presentations. Such consumption involvement and/orengagement is evidenced when, for example, users discuss mediapresentations (e.g., television or radio programs, advertisements, etc.)on message or discussion boards (e.g., social network sites, blogs,discussion boards, and/or any other Internet-based discussion mediums).Such discussions or postings are indicative of audience engagementlevels in such media programs. Examples disclosed herein use Internetmessage-based engagement indices (hereinafter “Internet engagementindices”) in connection with engagement indices determined usingtraditional techniques (hereinafter “survey engagement indices”) togenerate relatively more accurate engagement indices (hereafter“composite engagement indices”) encompassing a larger audience base(e.g., panelist audience members and non-panelist audience memberscontributing to Internet-based message postings).

Some example methods to determine audience engagement indices associatedwith media presentations involve determining an Internet engagementindex based on a quantity of matches between a keyword associated with amedia presentation and messages posted on an Internet service. Some suchexample methods also involve determining a total engagement index (TEI)(or a composite engagement index) based on the Internet engagement indexand a survey engagement index indicative of an engagement measure ofpanel members to the media presentation. In some exampleimplementations, the quantity of registered users of an Internet servicemay be significantly more than the quantity of audience members in amedia panel managed by a media audience measurement entity. In suchexample implementations, the Internet engagement index determined basedon messages posted on the Internet service may be weighted using a firstweighting value proportional to the quantity of registered users of theInternet service. In addition, the survey engagement index determinedbased on the media panel members may be weighted using a secondweighting value proportional to the quantity of audience members of themedia panel. The TEI may then be equated to the average of weightedvalues for the Internet engagement index and the survey engagementindex.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 to determine composite audienceengagement indices and/or TEIs for media presentations based onengagement levels measured from media panels and Internet messagepostings. In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the example system 100includes an example audience measurement entity 102 and an Internetdatabase proprietor 104 that hosts an Internet message database 106. Theaudience measurement entity 102 may work with any entity (e.g., anInternet service provider) having a database (e.g., the Internet messagedatabase 106) storing messages posted by individuals (e.g., registeredusers of the Internet service provider). Such entities may be referredto as “database proprietors” (e.g., the Internet database proprietor104). Example database proprietors include entities such as Facebook,Myspace, Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Twitter, Apple iTunes, television networkwebsites, radio network websites, etc. There are many databaseproprietors operating on the Internet. These database proprietorsprovide one or more services to large numbers of subscribers. That is,in exchange for the provision of the service, the subscribers registerwith the proprietor. As part of this registration, database proprietorsmay collect information from the subscribers including, for example,unique usernames, demographic information, etc. In the illustratedexample of FIG. 1, the Internet database proprietor stores user accountinformation including demographics information in a user account (UA)database 107.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the Internet message database 106receives, stores, and hosts messages posted by users via, for example,computing devices 108 in communication with to the Internet databaseproprietor 104 through the Internet 110. In illustrated examples, themessages may be posted by users on message boards, message walls, blogs,discussion boards, and/or any other messaging or discussion medium(s)that are intended to be accessible by other users and/or generallyaccessible by people browsing the Internet. Whether messages areaccessible to the example system of FIG. 1 may be based on terms ofservice (TOS) agreements or privacy policies of the Internet databaseproprietor 104. For messages accessible to the example system of FIG. 1,such messages may be accessed using one or more application programinterfaces (APIs) made available by the Internet database proprietor 104for accessing and/or searching the Internet message database 106.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the media audience measuremententity 102 includes an example query and reporting server 112 incommunication with an example media presentation database 114 and anexample media panel engagement index database 116. The example query andreporting server 112 of FIG. 1 is configured to generate a totalengagement index (TEI) 124 (i.e., a composite engagement index) asdescribed below. In some examples, the query and reporting server 112 isimplemented using the example apparatus 400 of FIG. 4. The mediapresentation database 114 stores metadata for media presentationsincluding, for example, television programming, radio programming,Internet-based programming, advertisements, and/or any other type ofmedia content. An example excerpt from the media presentation database114 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, metadata in the examplemedia presentation database 114 includes program titles (e.g., “TheDaily Show”, “Myth Busters”, “All My Children”, and “Today”). In someexamples, the metadata stored in the presentations of the mediapresentation database 114 may also include network names (as shown inFIG. 2), air dates (as shown in FIG. 2), air times, actor/actress names,program categories, etc. Although not shown, the media presentationdatabase 114 may also include metadata for aired advertisements. Suchadvertisement metadata may include brand names, product/servicecategories, product/service types, trademarks, service marks, catchphrases, etc. Although the following examples discuss determiningengagement indices for media programs or presentations, such examplesare equally applicable to determining engagement indices foradvertisements.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the query and reporting server 112uses the metadata stored in the media presentation database 114 toselect keywords searchable in Internet message postings to determinewhen users responsible for such message postings are referring toparticular media presentations in their messages. For example, for thetelevision show “Myth Busters,” the example query and reporting server112 may perform a keyword search exchange 118 with the Internet messagedatabase 106 based on a keyword search string “myth busters” selectedfrom the title of the television show. For example, referring to FIG. 3,the Internet message database 106 stores messages from registered usersof the Internet database proprietor 104. In the illustrated example ofFIG. 3, contents of messages 302 and 304 include the phrase “mythbusters.” Thus, when the example query and reporting server 112 of FIG.1 performs a search query in the Internet message database 106 based onthe search string “myth busters,” the Internet message database 106returns an indication of at least two matches corresponding to themessages 302 and 304. If matches are found in other messages in theInternet message database 106, the example Internet message database 106of FIG. 1 will also report those matches to the query and reportingserver 112 as part of the keyword search exchange 118. In theillustrated examples, the query and reporting server 112, uses thequantity (e.g., a number) of matches reported by the Internet messagedatabase 106 to determine an Internet engagement index for thecorresponding media program for which the search was conducted in theInternet message database 106. The Internet engagement indicesdetermined by the query and reporting server 112 of FIG. 1 based onInternet message postings are also referred to herein as Internetmessage-based engagement indices.

Returning to FIG. 1, the example media panel engagement index database116 stores survey engagement indices for one or more media presentationsrepresented in the media presentation database 114. The surveyengagement indices in the media panel engagement index database 116 arealso referred to herein as media panel engagement indices and aredetermined by a media panel monitoring system 120. In the illustratedexample of FIG. 1, the media panel monitoring system 120 monitorsaudience members that have agreed to be part of a media panel (e.g., atelevision audience panel, a radio audience panel, an Internet audiencepanel, a TV/Internet audience panel, a radio/Internet audience panel, aTV/radio/Internet audience panel, etc.) and have, thus, consented tohaving their media habits monitored by the media audience measuremententity 102. Based on the data collected using such monitoring, the mediapanel monitoring system 120 repeatedly determines survey engagementindices for different media presentations represented in the mediapresentation database 114. In some examples, the survey engagementindices are developed through surveys of panelists that are exposed tothe media in question. For example, the media audience measuremententity 102 and/or the media panel monitoring system 120 may use thepanelist responses to assess levels of engagement by panelists withmedia in question and generate the survey engagement indices based onthe assessed levels of engagement. The media panel monitoring system 120stores the survey engagement indices in the media panel engagement indexdatabase 116. In some examples, panels may be organized based onaudience member demographics. In such examples, some survey engagementindices stored in the media panel engagement index database 116 maycorrespond to respective demographic groups.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, when individuals join a panelmonitored by the media panel monitoring system 120, they providedetailed information concerning their identity and demographics (e.g.,gender, race, income, home location, occupation, etc) to the mediaaudience measurement entity 102 tracking that panel. The media audiencemeasurement entity 102 is provided with a demographics database 122 tostore demographic information corresponding to panelists.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the query and reporting server 112generates the total engagement index (TEI) 124 based on surveyengagement indices from the media panel engagement index database 116and Internet engagement indices derived from messages in the Internetmessage database 106. For example, the example query and reportingserver 112 of FIG. 1 employs example Equation 1 below to determine theTEI 124.

TEI=((WT _(P) *EI _(P))+(WT _(I) *EI _(I)))/(WT _(P) +WT _(I))  Equation1

In Equation 1 above, TEI is the TEI 124, WT_(P) is a panel weightingvalue, EI_(P) is a survey engagement index, WT_(I) is an Internetweighting value, and EI_(I) is an Internet engagement index. In Equation1 above, the TEI 124 for a particular media presentation is an averageof a weighted survey engagement index (WT_(P)*EI_(P)) and a weightedInternet engagement index (WT_(I)*EI_(I)). In particular, the TEI 124 isequal to the sum of the weighted survey engagement index (WT_(P)*EI_(P))and the weighted Internet engagement index (WT_(I)*EI_(I)) divided bythe sum of the panel weighting value (WT_(P)) and the Internet weightingvalue (WT_(I)). The query and reporting server 112 of the illustratedexample retrieves the survey engagement index (EI_(P)) from the mediapanel engagement index database 116. The query and reporting server 112of the illustrated example determines the Internet panel engagementindex (EI_(I)) by tallying the quantity of messages from unique users(e.g., keyword matches in multiple messages from the same registereduser are counted as only one match or one exposure by that registereduser to the target media presentation) in the Internet message database106 that mention the keyword (e.g., the title) associated with a targetmedia presentation and dividing that quantity by the total quantity ofregistered users of the Internet database proprietor 104 eligible forposting messages stored in the Internet message database 106.

In the example of FIG. 1, the panel weighting value (WT_(P)) isproportional to a quantity of audience members of a media panel used todetermine the TEI 124. The Internet weighting value (WT_(I)) isproportional to the quantity of registered users of an Internet service(e.g., the Internet database proprietor 106) storing the user messagesthat were used to develop the Internet engagement index (EI_(I)). Insome examples, the Internet weighting value (WT_(I)) may be set equal tothe quantity of registered users of the Internet database proprietor106, and the panel weight value (WT_(P)) may be set equal to thequantity of audience members of the panel used to determine the TEI 124.In some examples, the weight values (WT_(P)) and (WT_(I)) may be setequal to 1 in Equation 1 if the quantity of registered users of theInternet database proprietor 106 is equal or substantially equal to thequantity of audience members of the panel used to determine the TEI 124.When values other than 1 are used for the weight values (WT_(P)) and(WT_(I)), the resulting TEI 124 is a weighted average value.

To further illustrate Equation 1, consider an example in which atelevision panel monitored by the media panel monitoring system 120contains 4,000 audience members (i.e., WT_(P)=4,000) and results in an80% survey engagement index (EIp) for a particular television show. Inaddition, a registered user base of 100,000 users (i.e., WT_(I)=100,000)registered in the Internet database proprietor 104 results in a 30%Internet engagement index (EI_(I)) for the same television show. In suchan example, the query and reporting server 112 can use Equation 1 todetermine that the TEI 124 is equal to 33.7 (i.e.,TEI=33.7=((4,000*80)+(100,000*30))/(4,000+100,000)).

In some examples, the query and reporting server 112 usesdemographics-based engagement indices to determine the TEI 124 for oneor more demographic segments of interest. That is, the example query andreporting server 112 uses engagement indices from the media panelengagement index database 116 that correspond to select demographicsegments represented in the demographics database 122. In addition, theexample query and reporting server 112 may perform keyword searches onlyon messages in the Internet message database 106 that were posted byusers associated with the same demographics of interest. The query andreporting server 112 may obtain or discern demographics of registeredusers of the Internet database proprietor 104 based on a co-operativeaudience measurement relationship between the Internet databaseproprietor 104 and the media audience measurement entity 102.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example implementation 400 of the query andreporting server 112 of FIG. 1. In the illustrated example of FIG. 4,the example apparatus 400 includes an example keyword selector 402, anexample demographics selector 404, an example query interface 406, anexample survey engagement index interface 408, an example Internetengagement index generator 410, an example weighting generator 412, andan example total engagement index generator 414.

Turning in detail to FIG. 4, the example apparatus 400 is provided withthe keyword selector 402 to select keywords related to a target mediapresentation for searching in Internet message postings (e.g., Internetmessage postings stored in the Internet message database 110 of FIG. 1).For example, the keyword selector 402 may search one or more records inthe media presentation database 114 of a target media presentation forwhich to determine a TEI (e.g., the TEI 124 of FIG. 1). From the one ormore records, the keyword selector 402 selects one or more keywords(e.g., a title) representative of the target media presentation. Forexample, if the target presentation is “The Daily Show,” the keywordselector 402 may select the keywords “daily show” (e.g., a subset of thetitle) to search for in messages in the Internet message database 110.Alternatively, if the target media presentation is “Myth Busters,” thekeyword selector 402 may select the keywords “myth busters” representingthe entirety of the title of the television program.

To select demographics information in the demographics database 122 ofFIG. 1 and/or from the Internet database proprietor 104, the exampleapparatus 400 is provided with the demographics selector 404. Theexample demographics selector 404 of FIG. 4 identifies particular panelsbased on demographics information in the demographics database 122. Theinformation returned by the demographics selector 404 is used toretrieve corresponding survey engagement indices from the surveyengagement index database 116 corresponding to the panelists of theselected demographics group.

To perform keyword search queries in the Internet message database 106,the example apparatus 400 of FIG. 4 is provided with the query interface406. The query interface 406 of the illustrated example receiveskeywords from the keyword selector 402 for a particular target mediapresentation and generates a query search string to perform the keywordsearch exchange 118 (FIG. 1) with the Internet message database 106 viaan application program interface (API). In some examples, the queryinterface 406 generates query search strings that request a username orunique user ID associated with each message containing the searchedkeywords. The query interface 406 can then tally the quantity of uniqueusernames or user IDs such that duplicate usernames or unique user IDsare not counted more than once. Alternatively, the database proprietormay implement functionality to ensure the returned quantity representsunique usernames. In either of the example approaches, an impression orexposure is counted once per user even if that user mentioned thekeywords in more than one message. In some example implementations, thequery interface 406 may also structure query search strings to restrictanalysis (e.g., the count of messages) to messages having postingdates/times within particular dates and/or timeframes (e.g., within 24hours of broadcast, within one week of broadcast, etc.).

To retrieve survey engagement indices (EIp) from the media panelengagement index database 116 (FIG. 1), the example apparatus 400 ofFIG. 4 is provided with the survey engagement index interface 408. Theexample survey engagement index interface 408 of FIG. 4 retrieves surveyengagement indices (EIp) from the survey engagement index interface 408corresponding to target media presentations. In some examples, thesurvey engagement index interface 408 may limit retrieval of surveyengagement indices to evaluate identified by the demographics selector404.

To generate internet message-based engagement indices (EI_(I)) based onsearches performed in the Internet message database 106, the exampleapparatus 400 of FIG. 4 is provided with the Internet engagement indexgenerator 410. The example Internet engagement index generator 410 ofFIG. 4 determines the Internet engagement index (EI_(I)) as discussedabove in connection with Equation 1 by dividing the quantity of messagesfrom unique users in the Internet message database 106 that mention thekeyword(s) of a target media presentation by the total quantity ofregistered users of the Internet database proprietor 104 eligible forposting messages stored in the Internet message database 106.

To generate weighting values for determining the TEI 124 (FIG. 1), theexample apparatus 400 of FIG. 4 is provided with the weighting generator412. The example weighting generator 412 of FIG. 4 determines the weightvalues (WT_(P)) and (WT_(I)) as described above in connection withEquation 1 to account for different media panels having quantities ofaudience members different from the quantity of registered users of theInternet database proprietor 104.

To determine the TEI 124 (FIG. 1), the apparatus 400 is provided withthe total engagement index generator 414. The example total engagementindex generator 414 of FIG. 4 determines the TEI 124 using Equation 1 asdescribed above.

While an example manner of implementing the apparatus 400 has beenillustrated in FIG. 4, one or more of the elements, processes and/ordevices illustrated in FIG. 4 may be combined, divided, re-arranged,omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, thekeyword selector 402, the demographics selector 404, the query interface406, the survey engagement index interface 408, the Internet engagementindex generator 410, the weighting generator 412, and the totalengagement index generator 414 and/or, more generally, the exampleapparatus 400 of FIG. 4 may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.Thus, for example, any of the keyword selector 402, the demographicsselector 404, the query interface 406, the survey engagement indexinterface 408, the Internet engagement index generator 410, theweighting generator 412, and the total engagement index generator 414and/or, more generally, the example apparatus 400 could be implementedby one or more circuit(s), programmable processor(s), applicationspecific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s)(PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), etc. Whenany of the appended apparatus claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the keyword selector402, the demographics selector 404, the query interface 406, the surveyengagement index interface 408, the Internet engagement index generator410, the weighting generator 412, and/or the total engagement indexgenerator 414 are hereby expressly defined to include a computerreadable medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, etc. storing the softwareand/or firmware. Further still, the example apparatus 400 of FIG. 4 mayinclude one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to,or instead of, those illustrated in FIG. 4, and/or may include more thanone of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to determine TEIs (e.g., the TEI 124of FIG. 1) of media presentations based on engagement levels measuredfrom media panels and Internet message postings to implement the examplequery and reporting server 112 of FIG. 1 and/or the example apparatus400 of FIG. 4. The example process of FIG. 5 may be implemented usingmachine readable instructions that, when executed, cause a device (e.g.,a programmable controller, processor, or other programmable machine orintegrated circuit) to perform the operations shown in FIG. 5. Forinstance, the example process of FIG. 5 may be performed using aprocessor, a controller, and/or any other suitable processing device.For example, the example process of FIG. 5 may be implemented usingcoded instructions stored on a tangible machine readable medium such asa flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), and/or a random-access memory(RAM).

As used herein, the term tangible computer readable medium is expresslydefined to include any type of computer readable storage and to excludepropagating signals. Additionally or alternatively, the example processof FIG. 5 may be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computerreadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer readablemedium such as a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-accessmemory (RAM), a cache, or any other storage media in which informationis stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods,permanently, brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or forcaching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitorycomputer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type ofcomputer readable medium and to exclude propagating signals.

Alternatively, the example process of FIG. 5 may be implemented usingany combination(s) of application specific integrated circuit(s)(ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), field programmablelogic device(s) (FPLD(s)), discrete logic, hardware, firmware, etc.Also, the example process of FIG. 5 may be implemented as anycombination(s) of any of the foregoing techniques, for example, anycombination of firmware, software, discrete logic and/or hardware.

Although the example process of FIG. 5 is described with reference tothe flow diagram of FIG. 5, other methods of implementing the process ofFIG. 5 may be employed. For example, the order of execution of theblocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may bechanged, eliminated, sub-divided, or combined. Additionally, one or bothof the example process of FIG. 5 may be performed sequentially and/or inparallel by, for example, separate processing threads, processors,devices, discrete logic, circuits, etc.

Turning in detail to FIG. 5, initially, the example apparatus 400selects a target media presentation (block 402). For example, theapparatus 400 may receive a name or identifier of a target mediapresentation from a user interacting with the query and reporting server112 (FIG. 1) or may select a target media presentation in an automatedmanner from a pre-stored list of media presentation pre-selected for thequery and reporting server 112 to generate TEIs (e.g., the TEI 124 ofFIG. 1).

The example keyword selector 402 (FIG. 4) then selects one or morekeywords associated with the target media presentation (block 504). Forexample, the keyword selector 402 may analyze one or more entries in themedia presentation database 114 corresponding to the target mediapresentation and select the one or more keywords (e.g., from a title orany other metadata) representative of the target media presentation.

The query interface 406 (FIG. 4) initiates a keyword search in theInternet message database 106 (block 506) to perform the keyword searchexchange 118 of FIG. 1. The query interface 406 receives search results(block 508) and determines whether there are sufficient search results(block 510) related to the target media presentation to determine ameaningful TEI (e.g., the TEI 124 of FIG. 1) based on Internet messagepostings in the Internet message database 106. For example, if thequantity of search results is too low (or if no matches are found), anyresulting Internet engagement index may not fairly or sufficientlycontribute to an accurate or meaningful TEI. That is, the resultingInternet engagement index may be a statistical outlier or a meaninglessanomaly relative to a survey engagement index in the media panelengagement index database 116 (FIG. 1) for the same target mediaprogram.

If there are sufficient search results (block 510), control advances toblock 512, at which the demographics interface 404 (FIG. 4) determineswhether to select particular demographics (block 512). For example, theapparatus 400 may receive demographics of a target audience group from auser interacting with the query and reporting server 112 (FIG. 1) or mayselect target demographics in an automated manner from a pre-stored listof demographics-based groups pre-selected for the query and reportingserver 112 to generate TEIs (e.g., the TEI 124 of FIG. 1). If thedemographics interface 404 selects target demographics (block 512), thedemographics selector 404 applies a demographics filter (block 514). Forexample, the demographics selector 404 may identify survey engagementindices in the media panel engagement index database 116 that areassociated with panelists having select target demographics of interest.Additionally, the demographics interface 404 may work with the queryinterface 406 to filter the search results from the Internet messagedatabase 106 based on the target demographics.

In some examples, the example query interface 406 submits the targetdemographics to the Internet database proprietor 104 with a listing ofusernames or unique user IDs received in the keyword search results atblock 508 and request the Internet database proprietor 104 to filter theusernames or unique user IDs based on the target demographics. TheInternet database proprietor 104 may filter the usernames or unique userIDs based on corresponding demographics information stored in the UAdatabase 107 and return the filtered results (i.e., filtered usernamesor unique user IDs associated with matching demographics) to the queryinterface 406.

In some examples, the Internet database proprietor 104 provides themedia audience measurement entity 102 with access to the UA database107, and the demographics selector 404 applies the demographics filterto the keyword search results (e.g., the usernames or unique user IDs)at the operation of block 514 by directly accessing demographicsinformation of registered users in the UA database 107.

After applying the demographics filter (block 514) or if thedemographics interface 404 determines that it should not selectparticular demographic group(s) (block 512), control advances to block516, at which the Internet engagement index generator 410 (FIG. 4)determines an Internet engagement index (EI_(I)) (block 516) asdiscussed above in connection with Equation 1 based on the keywordsearch results received at block 508 and/or filtered at block 514.

The survey engagement index interface 408 (FIG. 4) retrieves a surveyengagement index (EI_(P)) (block 518) from the media panel engagementindex database 116 corresponding to the target media program. Inexamples in which particular demographics were applied at block 514, thesurvey engagement index interface 408 selects the survey engagementindex (EI_(P)) based also on the target demographics.

The example weighting generator 412 (FIG. 4) determines weight values(block 520). For example, the weighting generator 412 may determine thepanel weighting value (WT_(P)) and the Internet weighting value (WT_(I))as discussed above in connection with Equation 1. The total engagementindex generator 414 (FIG. 4) determines the TEI 124 (FIG. 1) (block 522)based on the Internet engagement index (EI_(I)), the survey engagementindex (EI_(P)), the panel weighting value (WT_(P)), and the Internetweighting value (WT_(I)) as discussed above in connection with Equation1.

The example apparatus 400 determines whether there is another targetdemographic group for which to generate a TEI for the same target mediapresentation (block 524). If there is another demographic group, controlreturns to block 514. Otherwise, the apparatus 400 determines whetherthere is another target media presentation to analyze (block 526). Ifthere is another target media presentation to analyze (e.g., anothertarget media presentation indicated by a user or located on apre-defined target media presentation list), control returns to block502. Otherwise, the example process of FIG. 5 is ended.

Although examples described above involve the media audience measuremententity 102 as communicating with only one Internet database proprietor(i.e., the Internet database proprietor 104), in other examples, themedia audience measurement entity 102 may communicate with any number ofInternet database proprietors and generate TEIs based on data receivedfrom any number of Internet database proprietors.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example processor system 610 that may beused to execute the example computer readable instructions of FIG. 5 toimplement the example query and reporting server 112 of FIG. 1 and/orthe example apparatus 400 of FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 6, the processorsystem 610 includes a processor 612 that is coupled to aninterconnection bus 614. The processor 612 may be any suitableprocessor, processing unit, or microprocessor. Although not shown inFIG. 6, the system 610 may be a multi-processor system and, thus, mayinclude one or more additional processors that are identical or similarto the processor 612 and that are communicatively coupled to theinterconnection bus 614.

The processor 612 of FIG. 6 is coupled to a chipset 618, which includesa memory controller 620 and an input/output (I/O) controller 622. Achipset provides I/O and memory management functions as well as aplurality of general purpose and/or special purpose registers, timers,etc. that are accessible or used by one or more processors coupled tothe chipset 618. The memory controller 620 performs functions thatenable the processor 612 (or processors if there are multipleprocessors) to access a system memory 624 and a mass storage memory 625.

In general, the system memory 624 may include any desired type ofvolatile and/or non-volatile memory such as, for example, static randomaccess memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memory,read-only memory (ROM), etc. The mass storage memory 625 may include anydesired type of mass storage device including hard disk drives, opticaldrives, tape storage devices, etc.

The I/O controller 622 performs functions that enable the processor 612to communicate with peripheral input/output (I/O) devices 626 and 628and a network interface 630 via an I/O bus 632. The I/O devices 626 and628 may be any desired type of I/O device such as, for example, akeyboard, a video display or monitor, a mouse, etc. The networkinterface 630 may be, for example, an Ethernet device, an asynchronoustransfer mode (ATM) device, an 802.11 device, a digital subscriber line(DSL) modem, a cable modem, a cellular modem, etc. that enables theprocessor system 610 to communicate with another processor system.

While the memory controller 620 and the I/O controller 622 are depictedin FIG. 6 as separate functional blocks within the chipset 618, thefunctions performed by these blocks may be integrated within a singlesemiconductor circuit or may be implemented using two or more separateintegrated circuits.

Although the following discloses example methods, apparatus, systems,and articles of manufacture including, among other components, firmwareand/or software executed on hardware, it should be noted that suchmethods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are merelyillustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, itis contemplated that any or all of these hardware, firmware, and/orsoftware components could be embodied exclusively in hardware,exclusively in firmware, exclusively in software, or in any combinationof hardware, firmware, and/or software. Accordingly, while the followingdescribes example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles ofmanufacture, such provided examples are not the only ways to implementsuch methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture.

Although certain example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles ofmanufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of thispatent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers allmethods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within thescope of the claims of this patent.

What it claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: determining, via aprocessor, a first engagement index associated with media based on aquantity of users of an Internet service that have posted messagescontaining a keyword associated with the media between a first time anda second time; weighting the first engagement index with a first weight;determining a second engagement index based on a survey of panel membersexposed to the media at the first time; weighting the second engagementindex with a second weight; and determining a composite engagement indexbased on the weighted first engagement index and the weighted secondengagement index.
 2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the firstengagement index associated with the media is based on ones of thequantity of the users of the Internet service that are unique.
 3. Amethod as defined in claim 1, wherein the first weight is proportionalto a total number of users registered with the Internet service.
 4. Amethod as defined in claim 3, wherein the total number of usersregistered with the Internet service is determined using the usersregistered with the Internet service that are unique.
 5. A method asdefined in claim 1, wherein the second weight is proportional to a totalnumber of the panel members used to determine the second engagementindex.
 6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first and secondweights are based on a total number of users in a targeted groupregistered with the Internet service and a total number of panel membersin the targeted group used to determine the second engagement index. 7.A method as defined in claim 6, wherein the targeted group is based ondemographics of members of the targeted group.
 8. An apparatus,comprising: an Internet engagement index generator to determine a firstengagement index associated with media based on a quantity of users ofan Internet service that have posted messages containing a keywordassociated with the media between a first time and a second time; asurvey engagement index interface to determine a second engagement indexbased on a survey of panel members exposed to the media at the firsttime; and a total engagement index generator to: apply a first weight tothe first engagement index; apply a second weight to the secondengagement index; and determine a composite engagement index based onthe weighted first engagement index and the weighted second engagementindex.
 9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the firstengagement index associated with the media is based on ones of thequantity of the users of the Internet service that are unique.
 10. Anapparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the first weight isproportional to a total number of users registered with the Internetservice.
 11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the totalnumber of users registered with the Internet service is determined usingthe users registered with the Internet service that are unique.
 12. Anapparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the second weight isproportional to a total number of the panel members used to determinethe second engagement index.
 13. An apparatus as defined in claim 8,wherein the first and second weights are based on a total number ofusers in a targeted group registered with the Internet service and atotal number of panel members in the targeted group used to determinethe second engagement index.
 14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13,wherein the targeted group is based on demographics of members of thetargeted group.
 15. A tangible machine readable storage mediumcomprising machine readable instructions that, when executed, cause amachine to at least: determine a first engagement index associated withmedia based on a quantity of users of an Internet service that haveposted messages containing a keyword associated with the media between afirst time and a second time; weigh the first engagement index with afirst weight; determine a second engagement index based on a survey ofpanel members exposed to the media at the first time; weigh the secondengagement index with a second weight; and determine a compositeengagement index based on the weighted first engagement index and theweighted second engagement index.
 16. A tangible machine readablestorage medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the first engagementindex associated with the media is based on ones of the quantity of theusers of the Internet service that are unique.
 17. A tangible machinereadable storage medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the first weightis proportional to a total number of users registered with the Internetservice.
 18. A tangible machine readable storage medium as defined inclaim 17, wherein the total number of users registered with the Internetservice is determined using the users registered with the Internetservice that are unique.
 19. A tangible machine readable storage mediumas defined in claim 15, wherein the first and second weights are basedon a total number of users in a targeted group registered with theInternet service and a total number of panel members in the targetedgroup used to determine the second engagement index.
 20. A tangiblemachine readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein thetargeted group is based on demographics of members of the targetedgroup.